Hello, my name is Zachary Fried and I was Project Manager, Narrative Designer, and a Concept Designer for The Nest (play here). This was my first Global Game Jam and game jam, in general, to participate in. I learned a great deal and got to share some amazing experiences with new friends and phenomenal people over discord.

 During team High Roller's 48 hours to complete the game,  I helped design a short story for our players. Although, not everything I wrote could make it into the final game. For anyone who doesn't feel like playing the game or is just interested on our narrative, here's the full game dialogue and narrative flow below :D. Enjoy!

Title of Game: The Nest

Pitch: A 2D point & click puzzle adventure on a discarded astro-laboratory. A singleplayer discovery game that requires audiences to keep their eyes peeled for fascinating antiques.

Logline: In 4090, Lafayette Harrison, a futuristic collector-extraordinaire, is sent by I.C.E.C.R.E.A.M. (The International Coalition of Explorers Chasing the Reaches of Extreme Anterior Motion) to find three rare items on an abandoned space station called The Nest. Although, it seems the International Coalition was misinformed about what’s truly hiding under piles of high-tech junk.

                                                Synopsis 

Lafayette Harrison, a scavenger with a great deal of scientific know-how, arrives on The Nest. I.C.E.C.R.E.A.M. (The International Coalition of Explorers Chasing the Reaches of Extreme Anterior Motion) commissioned Lafayette to look for a mint condition coin, a vintage cleaning tool, and a record player. 

This abandoned space station seems to have nothing useful until Lafayette awakens a rusty artificially intelligent technician drone with a battery. M.O.F.F. the AI drone wakes up startled, confused, and a little disappointed; they see another “dumpster diver” who is looking for some sort of exotic commodity that’s rumored to be on The Nest. 

With M.O.F.F.'s offbeat sense of humor, unusual persona, and nothing better to do, they venture off with Lafayette to cross off his checklist of missing items; the first item Lafayette comes across is an ancient coin, a Bitcoin! This Bitcoin fits perfectly in the slot of a locked door and clears a path for Lafayette and M.O.F.F.; then, Lafayette sifts through a filthy storage room only to find The BROOMBA 5,000 T-17 “all-in-one picker-upper.” 

Lastly, Lafayette reaches what appears to be an alien testing section of the astro-laboratory; Lafayette discovers not a vintage record player but an original MP3 player! This MP3 contains three music tracks that when played in the correct order, unlocks the interior of M.O.F.F.’s chassis. M.O.F.F. has some explaining to do when they are revealed to have withheld humanity's first discovery of an alien egg. The game breaks the fourth wall to reveal a plot twist comedic ending. It turns out, M.O.F.F. was programmed to protect and hide the egg, confuse collectors in search for the alleged foreign item, and live on the space station for eternity. Maybe M.O.F.F. will serve an even greater purpose in Lafayette’s next adventure…

Character Sheets

Characters	Lafayette Harrison	M.O.F.F.
Occupation	Highly skilled freelance collector commissioned by I.C.E.C.R.E.A.M.	Technician drone and laboratory assistant
Race, Age, and Gender	Human, 25, and Male	N/A.
Physical and Visual Traits	-Short and rounded -High-tech white and grey space suit with a blue visor -Floaty and hovering movement	-Tiny and compact -Silver outer frame, grey lining with green antennas, and pulsing aqua hovering waves -Whirring and trailing movement
Emotional and Personality Traits	-Quiet and cautious -Curious and perceptive	-Boisterous and amusing -Deceptive
Likes/Dislikes	-Likes to collect and scavenge  -Likes to visit abandoned locations and sites -Dislikes loud noises and conversational banter Dislikes working with others.	-Likes to be cunning and comical -Likes to intimidate and follow others around  -Dislikes collectors and galaxy trotters -Dislikes their own hardwiring and mechanisms
Greatest Hopes (Goals)/Fears	-Hopes to find I.C.E.C.R.E.A.M.’S three missing antiques  -Hopes to make a name for himself as a collector-extraordinaire -Afraid of failing their commission and losing clients	-Hopes to stop explorers from finding the precious alien egg -Afraid of having no purpose or value. -Afraid of being mundane and uninteresting
Religious or Philosophical Beliefs	-Maintains the belief history and rarities must be shared and preserved	-Believes their purpose in life is to be the protector of the alien egg
Backstory	Ever since Lafayette Harrison was a young kid he loved to collect. It started with a small rock collection and evolved 17  years later into a vast array of intergalactic resources and human marvels. Now, commissioned by I.C.E.C.R.E.A.M., Lafayette is searching for 3 unique items and is hoping something more will surface on his mission. .....................................................	In 4000, M.O.F.F. was created to assist Dr.Hassan  on their research with interplanetary travel. Hassan’s boss developed a self-orbiting space station called RI-RO, and hired many engineers and scientists to maintain the outer space facility. After Dr.Hassan discovered the universe’s first sign of extraterrestrial life, they were attacked by an unknown alien ship that frighteningly raided and pillaged the human crew on RI-RO. It is now 4090 and the seemingly deserted astro-laboratory has been slowly stripped apart by space explorers to provide resources and materials. These travelers have found RI-RO to be so plentiful of reserves, they nicknamed it The Nest. Remarkably, no one, not even the aliens, realized what Dr. Hassan stored in M.O.F.F. before she perished.

DRONE DIALOGUE

**THE DRONE HAS TO SAY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME ONCE THE PLAYER SEES IT…

“Fading...Fading...Batteries....Need batteries...”

**THE DRONE HAS TO SAY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME ONCE IT WAKES UP…

“Hey, I was sleeping. Shut me down!” “Who sent you here? Who are you? WHO DARES WAKE UP THE GREAT M.O.F.F.? Don’t make me hurt you!” “What’s this, what does your shirt say? The International Coalition of Explorers Chasing the Reaches of Extreme Anterior Motion? I.C.E.C.R.E.A.M… Hmm when does C.O.N.E. get here? AHAHAHAHAHAH!

 “Anyways, my name’s M.O.F.F. I’m an A.I. drone who enjoys powering down more than powering on.”

“Now, if I.C.E.C.R.E.A.M. sent you here there’s something that must be found, huh? Let me tell you, nothing is here and there never will be, this is a floating junkyard.”

"Oh, you’re holding a list. I.C.E.C.R.E.A.M. sent you to find a COUPLE of things?! I guess one drone’s trash is another collector’s WASTE of time, BWHAHAHA! Anywho, Go home! There’s nothing valuable here.”

“Wait a minute. All you explorers, more like “dumpster divers,” come here on the Nest searching for an exotic commodity or a marvel of some sort.”

You all come with high hopes for some “remarkable find” and then lose all your expectations when you leave with nothing but a goodie bag of nuts and bolts.”

“I haven’t stretched my wires in a few weeks so let’s take a tour of this high-tech wasteland and get you out of here. On second thought, maybe I’ll stay put. I feel like I’m suffering from something... But aren’t we all, HAHAHAH?

“...tough crowd. But seriously, It’s like my core is trying to BURST RIGHT OUT OF ME! Guess I need to repair my SUN-k flowder buds for my processing unit. So, where we going?”

[order for songs - correct order finishes the game basically after interacting with the egg]

*THE DRONE SAYS ONCE DOOR THREE IS OVER AND THE PLAYER EXITS

“Well, you came here looking for some antiques and now you got yourself some rare birds!”

“That MP3 sure is something! I guess that’s what all these galaxytrotters must be pursuing. You should leave and scram as fast as you can!”

**M.O.F.F. HAS TO SAY AT THE END OF THE GAME ONCE THE PLAYER SELECTS THE THIRD MP3 SONG AND UNLEASHES THE EGG INSIDE M.O.F.F.

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SEQUENCE OF THE ENDING

“You probably have a lot of questions and I understand… First, you should return my rightful property.”

**The player then sees on the top of the screen*

 YOU FOUND AN ALIEN EGG.

“Big deal. Alien eggs are normal in this futuristic video game."

 **The player then sees on the top of the screen*

THIS IS THE ONLY ONE IN EXISTENCE!

*M.O.F.F blows raspberry* 

“I disagree.”

 *The player then sees on the top of the screen*

M.O.F.F. ! STOP LYING!

“Here’s the truth cadet…”

*M.O.F.F. PAUSES FOR DRAMATIC EFFECT*

 "I’m a bird.”

*The player then sees on the top of the screen* 

YOU DO THIS EVERY TIME M.O.F.F. ! HURRY, WE’RE TRYING TO WRAP UP THE GAME FOR THE PLAYER!

“Okay, okay, you got me! Well, if all you scroungers wanted it so much, why did no one ever ask?” “Especially, you. Why don’t you ever speak up a little?” UHH, next time my INVENTOR,  shouldn’t upload my hardware commands into an MP3 player. You must be really smart or really lucky.”

*END SCREEN*

  YOU  WIN!

THANK YOU FOR PLAYING THE NEST